Tooth

Description

1) A hard, bone-like structure grown in the mouth of vertebrates. Teeth are composed of a soft center surrounded by hard dentin primarily composed of calcium hydroxyapatite with smaller amounts of calcium carbonate, calcium fluoride, magnesium phosphate, and ossein. The smooth outer surface is covered with hard, durable enamel. Animal teeth, such as from hippopotami, whales, lions, dogs, boars, and bears have been used to make gaming pieces, buttons, and jewelry. Once worked, it is difficult to tell teeth from tusks, ivory and even antler.

2) A textural description of a rough or absorbent surface.

Synonyms and Related Terms

1) teeth (plural); dent (Fr.); Zahn (Deut.); diente (Esp.); dente (It., Port.); Tänder (Sven.); tand (Dan., Ned.)

Other Properties

In cross section at high magnifications, teeth exhibit a honeycomb structure composed of interconnected horseshoe shapes

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Oppi Untracht, Jewelry Concepts and Technology, Doubleday & Co., Inc., New York City, 1985

• A. MacGregor, Bone, Antler, Ivory, and Horn, Croom Helm, London, 1985

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth (Accessed Sept. 28, 2005)

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000